# I have terrible nightmares (sorry, long)



## Andi (May 1, 2006)

I am not crazy and besides a general fear of failure and the fear of not being smart enough I donÂ´t have any mental issues. I have no suicidal thoughts nor am I depressed. just FYI :satisfied:

I have 2 kinds of nightmares

*1.) Scenarios where I almost get killed*

-I get hurt in every possible way. I have been raped, stabbed, drowned, shot, hung, choked, chased by criminals and so on in my dreams. I always wake up before I die though. I experience these things in brutal detail every time. it seems like a long struggle, I get hurt, then I escape, they come after me, I run away, the catch me and the pain starts over again.

-I have tons of dreams about nuclear war and war in general where I see people dying and get hurt myself

2.) Scenarios where I attempt to kill somebody

-I have dreams where a Chucky the murder-doll type figure tries to kill me. they might have different faces each time but theyÂ´re small killing machines that never actually die all the time. IÂ´d try to kill them in every possible and brutal way and they keep surviving every time, you know like in the horror movies where you think theyÂ´re dead but all of a sudden theyÂ´re back again.

-just the other night I had a dream that made me believe IÂ´m a complete psycho! in my dream there was a virus going around that turns people and animals into killing zombies. I found out my cat got infected and I didnÂ´t want to see my mom turning our cute cat into a killing machine. so I caught him, held him in between my knees and tried to cut his throat with a small, not very sharp kitchen knife. it seemed like 10min after I was able to cut through skin, muscle and finally the spinal cord and he was dead.

I was like what kind of person am I? I love my cat to death and I could never kill anyone, animal or human being!!!

if I had these dreams every single night then IÂ´d go see a professional ASAP. but I only have them ranging from 2 times a week minimum to every other night or almost every single night prior to my big exam at the end of each summer semester.

but I did have them every night at a time where I was really really stressed out and emotionally unstable (my brother being diagnosed with leukaemia and me starting in med school at the same time, failing, and loosing a whole year. my brother fully recovered and IÂ´m doing good in school now, after my initial struggle I still made it past the first year where 60-70% of all students fail and have to drop out so I know I have accomplished something doing my 3rd year right now. these are also things I frequently talk about so itÂ´s not like I completely ignore these things and therefore they haunt me in my dreams)

I

did read that dreams where youÂ´re almost killed mean you have a fear of failure in real life...well I knew that already. but those dream still canÂ´t be normal, right?

Could it be that I have serious mental issues that I donÂ´t know about? Am I going to be the next serial killer? LOL, j/k but I really do feel like I am not as normal as I though!!!!! :icon_scratch:


----------



## Kelly (May 1, 2006)

EDIT: Wait, you are weird or crazy and I'm scared of you.

I get similar bizarre dreams. VERY weird ones and very explicit too....and some are violent in different ways. Most are usually when I'm under stress.

Your med schooling is probably a bit stressful hon. I would believe it's stress. Stress causes alot of really weird things and weird dreams is one of them.

Just my 2 cents. Also if you are under-rested or lacking sleep, you can also get strange dreams as well. I know it's hard to cut down on stress and maybe try to get more sleep....or more quality sleep....big hugs and have your boyfriend (boyfriend right, he's not hubby yet right?)....he needs to give you lots of relaxing body or back massages every night before bed, so you can drift off into a relaxing rest....he he he.


----------



## mac-whore (May 1, 2006)

I have these dreams as well. Mine aren't very often at all but, when I DO have them.. they are very in detail and I often am '' half awake ''.. I believe it's called Sleep Paralysis. It is very scary when you're half awake and you know you're dreaming but, you can't seem to shake out of your sleep. Often times I wake up '' screaming '' but, nothing comes out.. and it takes alot of physical energy for me to wake up.

I definately think these dreams are related to stress. Anytime I go through a very stressful event in my life it seems that i'll have one of these dreams. Considering that you get them more during exam time it's probably exactly the same for you. I don't even know where to begin on making these dreams stop. I just pray before I go to bed at night and that's the most I can do.


----------



## Aquilah (May 1, 2006)

I agree w/ Kelly. There's a website, I think it's called Dream Dictionary, and it explains what certain dreams mean. Have you thought of trying that? The same thing happens to me, and my DH pratically has to slap me awake since I'll end up "fighting" him as if he's whoever the bad guy is in my dream... Honestly, I had a nightmare about a month or two ago about the Jackal from the movie _Th13teen Ghosts_ trying to get to me while washing the dishes late one night while everyone was asleep, and to this day whenever I'm washing dishes late at night while everyeone's asleep, I look over my shoulder just waiting and hoping nothing happens... Yeah, I know it's corny! You don't gotta tell me that *lmao* I feel ya girl! Definitely sucks to have dreams like that!!!


----------



## Kelly (May 1, 2006)

Oh my goodness.....this is exactly me too!!!! When I finally can seem to get enough strength or something to wake myself up, I'm usually yelling or my voice FINALLY works and it's SOOOOO real! Cuz I know I'm sleeping, but can't wake up and it's so frustrating, in my dream it is part of my dream of trying to wake myself up.....man!!!!!


----------



## mac-whore (May 1, 2006)

I HATE it! It's so scary but, just like you described it seems so real. I wonder what this is?? I thought i was the only one.


----------



## Andi (May 1, 2006)

I totally have that too!!! I forgot to mention it. when people try to kill me in my dream I attempt to scream for help and I open my mouth and nothing comes out. thatÂ´s why IÂ´m so scared that if something like that happened in real life IÂ´d have a mental block and I couldnÂ´t scream for help either.


----------



## Kelly (May 1, 2006)

Wow....nope, I'm sure there's more out there like us. I believe it's stress related.....or we are weird, that's all.:whistling:

I can try sooooo hard to get my voice to work in my dream....and my voice doesn't work, like I'm mute or something and in my dream I feel so strongly if my voice would work, someone or whatever is frightening me would hear me.....I don't know, it's weird.

I hate the dreams that are sooooo real and like you said, you are half awake it seems like and to wake yourself up is sooooo exhausting.

Andrea, are your's like this too sometimes?


----------



## Kelly (May 1, 2006)

Me too! I feel, that I'm sooooo scared, that everything just doesn't work right, even when I try to fight something or someone off in my dream, nothing works right....it's weird. I hate the voice not working thought, that part bothers me too, not only can my body not work right, but I can't scream either.

Yep, we all need sleep therapy!


----------



## KISKA (May 1, 2006)

Sounds pretty normal to me.


----------



## pieced (May 1, 2006)

I have dreams like this sometimes, and more recently than ever before. I sometimes don't even know how to interpret it. But I found a site that can be helpfull...

http://www.dreammoods.com/


----------



## VenusGoddess (May 1, 2006)

Dreams are your subconcious talking to you. It's all symbolic, so no one can really say what your dream means. Symbolism is personalized and what one symbol means to you, it may mean something completely different to another person.

The first thing I suggest you do is get a dream journal. Before you go to bed, write down what happened to you that day and how you were feeling (make sure you date the page). Then the moment you wake up, start writing about your dreams. The sooner upon waking up you do this, the more you'll remember. It's important to write down as much detail as you can (I use a tape recorder since my mind goes faster than my fingers and I'll transcribe it later). Then, when you've gotten everything down, it's important that you just let yourself breathe and let go of the dream. Things don't really make that much sense in dreams, by themselves...but after a few days or weeks, you'll begin to see patterns in your dreams (not just content-wise, but also symbology-wise). Interpreting your dreams takes time, but by seeing what happened during the day, it will help you make sense of the dream later.

One thing that helped me (I was having some weird, whacked out dreams for almost a year) was to keep a notebook of all of the dream "symbols" I was having. Writing down what a "husband" meant to me in the dream context...or what "cat" meant to me in the dream context really helped me to analyze my other dreams. I have tons of notebooks packed away with my dreams in them.

But, always keep in mind that dreams are not about the outside world, but about you in the different ways that you see yourself. Changing your dreams is possible, but takes concious effort. Are you feeling that you do not do enough to protect yourself (being mugged/beat up)? Are you feeling that people take advantage of you or your generosity (being raped)? There are a lot of questions that dreams can answer, but you have to know which questions to ask. Being able to look at a week's worth of dreams will bring out the patterns that will help you to identify what is going on in your subconcious.

It's a little time-consuming, but as you do it more and more, it'll take less time...and you'll feel better addressing the root of the dreams or the discomfort you feel at the unknown.

Good luck!!


----------



## cardboardboxed (May 1, 2006)

I have nightmares almost every night. Sort of like yours. Mine are really bloody sometimes and too horrible to mention. I don't think they mean anything, really. I mean sometimes they could be your subconcious, but sometimes they could just be nothing. Psychologists usually think they don't mean anything most of the time. I wouldn't stress about it too much as long as they don't interfere with your daily life.


----------



## jennycateyez (May 1, 2006)

i have bad nightmares to , i just had a couple for like 4 days in a row. 1st i had a dream my sis tried to kill me then the last was freddy was chasing me out of my house! i dont know what all of this means :satisfied:


----------



## Pauline (May 2, 2006)

Hi Arielle, it takes one psycho to know another...lol Just kidding

I have read and re read your dream and from what i am picking up it sounds to me as though in your dreams you are constantly struggling and fighting for what seems like ages, and though you are putting up a good fight there is something perhaps within you (an issue,a worry, a fear) that won't go away and keeps coming back. Like a cycle but you are stepping out of it and taking control by being the psycho and aggressor at times.

It also sounds like you feel intense anger and out of control but what struck me was that you were prepared to do what you had to do (as in killing your cat) and there is a lot of determination and forward thinking (you know what your doing and why)


----------



## Andi (May 2, 2006)

wow thatÂ´s scary itÂ´s like you just held a mirror in front of my face and told me whatÂ´s inside me. :wassatt:

I know what IÂ´m constantly struggling for. IÂ´ve always been told by my dad I wouldnÂ´t be smart enough to even finish high school, but I did, no problem. he wanted me to enroll in med school and I did although I wanted to do something else (thank god I ended up loving it right away!).

so I guess IÂ´m still struggling for his acknowledgment (although he sometimes tells me that itÂ´s great that I got so far but heÂ´s always hinting on how hard it is and that I need to focus and study and focus etc) and I avoid going home to my parents house cause every tiny stupid comment he makes makes me feel like heÂ´s still not proud of me.

IÂ´ve gotten a lot more confidence since I moved to go to school and guess I have been putting up "fights" against my self confidence issues by acting confident towards my dad and trying hard to not let him know that IÂ´m still taking his comments personal. I know the issues with my dad are never gonna stop so I guess the dreams wonÂ´t stop either, and I canÂ´t see myself getting over this problem because a huge part of me will just always want to hear the "I love you and IÂ´m proud of you" just once instead of always hearing "IÂ´m glad youÂ´re still in there but remember to always give your best so you donÂ´t fail and dissappoint me and everybody"

IÂ´m still shocked you could read so much out of my dreams, and IÂ´m shocked I didnÂ´t see this myself. I guess sometimes people who donÂ´t really know you that well can see some things clearer than you can yourself

thank you :satisfied:


----------



## Pauline (May 2, 2006)

Your welcome Arielle...glad if i helped.Someone suggested a dream diary, that would help you understand your dreams.Sometimes going back over dreams some time later helps you understand and 'see' the possible meaning.


----------



## LVA (May 2, 2006)

omg . I'm so glad u posted this Andi. I thought I was weird all this time. Cuz all of a sudden, i'm haveing nightmare after nightmares every night and i'm like ... i've had a pretty good day ... so why is it that when i go to bed, i see all these things?!


----------



## Elisabeth (May 3, 2006)

For anyone who is interested,

there are many, many wonderful books on Sleep Paralysis and Out-of-Body experiences.

Both are very common and happen equally to men and women. Most people who experience these phenomena do not openly talk about them for fear of ridicule and/or that they will be percieved insane.

While there are no specific patterns to these occurances, the average age they start can be as early as 8 or 9 (in some cases, even earlier).

Some of the best books reagrding both of these that I can recommend are written by Sylvia Brown. They are both soothing and fairly comprehensive.

There are also some freaky-deaky-ier books out there that connect Sleep Paralysis with such possible scenarios as UFO/alien abductions, Old Hag Experiences, etc...although abduction victim's experiences are fairly discernable.

I have yet to find a single good book on Dreams; even by one of the top Hypnotherapists in the States- who was my teacher. I just could not completely buy into it. The sub-concious is way too complex and, IMHO, can only be addressed properly individually.

Anybody interested can p.m. me about Sylvia Brown's or other books.


----------



## BrazenBrunhilda (May 5, 2006)

I get bad nightmares, too. I sometimes wake up in a cold puddle of sweat afterwards. Two nights ago I dreamt I was in a big city and terrorists had come to attack. I was with a group of people, but occasionally one would die off or disappear. Terrorists had taken over the streets and were firebombing everything. I saw planes fall out of the sky and crash. We couldn't use electricity where we were hiding because they would see us. They were firing automatic weapons at us...rat rat tat tat. This is not the first time I had a dream like this either. I woke up [alive] but I can't shake this dream...it was so vivid and real! You know, those dreams that are so intense, that after you wake up you believe it really happened (even for a split second?)

Either my terrorist dreams are precognitory or I am paranoid it will happen. Either way...I hate it when I have nightmares.


----------



## BrazenBrunhilda (May 5, 2006)

It is either a matter of *lucid dreaming* or because the dreamer's soul is having a hard time getting back into the body after *astral projecting*.


----------

